Strand tension device



March 14, 1961 R. L. CARROLL STRAND TENSION DEVICE Filed June 22, 1959 .llllllllllllllllllllllllll ll.

Fig. 7

L. CAR/POLL INVENTOR.

ROBERT L4 ATTORNEY 2,974,897 1 Patentecl Mar. 14, 1961 ,StgtCS atclltl STRAND TENSION DEVICE 7 Robert L. Carroll, 408 McIver St., Greenviiie, S.C. Filed June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 821,762

3 Claims. (Cl. 242-154) This invention relates to a strand tension device for use in yarn and thread cone winding and similar machinery, and has for its principal objective to afford an efiicient and practical construction enabling traveling the yarn between fingers of ceramic or refractory material in contact therewith, each of said ceramic fingers being individually mounted upon a metal support forming part of a metal frame or gate.

The invention is adapted for use in conjunction with fixed and movable gates as in this general type of machinery, and includes a metal gate which supports yarnengaging ceramic fingers in such a Way as to prevent contact of the yarn with any metal parts and has an operating portion located in spaced relation to the ceramic fingers and positioned so that one gate can be moved readily away from the fixed gate for inserting yarn between the movable and fixed gates without putting any strain or pressure on the individual ceramic fingers or on their metal supports and thus obviating the possibility of the yarn-engaging fingers being bent or broken under constant usage.

A further purpose of the invention is to afford a metal frame for supporting the ceramic fingers which is strong, rigid, and sufficiently resistant to strain put upon it to lend durability to the apparatus and to permit feeding yarn therethrough indefinitely without the proper relationship of the various'yarn-engaging fingers being disturbed.

Another object of the invention is to afford a construction adapted to the feeding of yarn to a coning machine where it is necessary for the yarn to be moved bodily alternately in opposite directions in addition to its longitudinal travel, and so controlled that there is no likelihood of the yarn being accidentally disengaged from the ceramic fingers, which are shaped so assto retain the yarn in proper position at all times;

-- -It has been heretofore proposed to provide a yarn tension device with ceramic fingers, but such structures have had various objections including the necessity of molding several fingers in a single unit which is fastened to a supporting plate, and there is also the problem of tightly securing such a member to a support, and it is a particular purpose of the invention to provide a construction in which individual ceramic fingers are cemented or otherwise individually attached to individual metal supports which form an integral part of a metal frame carried by the gate, the ceramic fingers being attached to the individual metal supports in'such a way as to provide a permanent, rigid connection.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will ap pear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a strand tension device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodi- V 2 ment of the invention, and showing the ceramic fingers in their operating or tensioning position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated, and illustrating a strand in operative position'between the ceramic fingers;

Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation of the structure as shown in Fig. 1 looking upward from below;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the ceramic fingers and illustrating the forward portion of the metal finger support in association therewith;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detailed cross sectional view through one of the ceramic fingers and its individual metal support;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the lowermost of the ceramic fingers with a narrower yarn-engaging recess than the ceramic fingers thereabove, and

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation of the illustrated in Fig. 7.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the illustrated structure includes a preferred embodiment of the invention embodying the relatively fixed and movable gates or metal plates upon which the ceramic or refractory fingers are mounted and in the arrangement shown, this is accomplished by providing metal plates 1 and 2, each including spaced elongated narrow metal finger supports 3 which are connected with the plates 1 and 2 by angular portions 4.

Each of the elongated metal finger supports 3 extends through a channel 6 on the under side of the ceramic finger mounted'thereon and terminates in a right-angular portion 7 arranged inthe channel of the ceramic finger. 8 is a downwardly and forwardly projecting extension on the metal finger support that extends through a complementary slot or opening in the ceramic finger, projecting forwardly beyond the outer end of the ceramic finger and terminating thence in a further downwardly projecting portion 9 that is integrally connected to operating bar 11, which as shown in Fig. l, is connected with all the metal finger supports 3, upon which the ceramic fingers are mounted and serves as an instrumentality enabling the operator to swing the movable gate readily for inserting a length of yarn between the gates when starting to feed a strand. The bar 11 on the movable ceramic finger gate 1 is wider than the bar on the stationary gate to facilitate the operator moving the bar and gate.

Each metalfinger support 3 is integrally connected to the operating bar 11 and to the metal plate 1 or 2, as the case may be, and is firmly and rigidly mounted so that the ceramic or refractory fingers are resistant to bending or distortion during the operations to which the apparatus is subjected, the movable gate indicated at 1 being swingable away from the stationary gate 2 by merely operating the bar 11 for inserting the yarn between the gates at the beginning of a feeding operation, after which the movable gate is held yieldably in operative relation to the stationary gate, as usual in apparatus of this general character.

Each ceramic or refractory finger is formed of abrasionresistant material, such as Heanium, a ceramic material disclosed in Patent No. 2,463,979, dated March 8, 1949, or other suitable material that possesses such hardness as not to be affected by the friction of a strand moving between the fingers.

Each ceramic finger has a transversely convex yarnengaging surface 12 over which the yarn passes, the back and forth lateral movement of the yarn in the conewinding operation being limited and the yarn guided by the convex shoulders 13 projecting away from the trans versely convex surface 12 and in cooperation with the adjacent opposed ceramic finger, forming a recess operating surfaces 12 through which the yarn travels and by which it is limited and guided in its movement, as shown in Fig. 2. Each ceramic finger is provided on its under side with a channel 6 previously mentioned and which extends to the outer end of the ceramicfinger, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, affording bifurcated portions 14 at opposite sides of the ceramic finger and between which the finger support 3 extends,'the finger support being permanently attached to the ceramic finger by a body of cement or other suitable material, as indicated at 15.,

When in operative yarn-feeding position, the adjacent ceramic fingers are arranged so that their faces, or coare in parallelism and approximately apart at the tops of the gates, while they are approximately 4, apart at the bottoms of-the gates, so that there is greater tension at the inlet end of the device and less tension at'the exitend where the yarn leaves the gates, and a uniformly increasing'distance between the faces of adjacent ceramic,fingers from bottom to top.

The length of the recess or space between the convex shoulders 13 in each ceramic finger is preferably the same in all fingers except the one at the inlet end or.

bottom of the device which is shorter than the others, as indicated at 16 in Fig. 8, in order to limit the lateral movement of the yarn and thereby guide it more readily and insure centering of the path of travel of the yarnto effect a more even overall tension, with less variation than might otherwise result from maladjustment of pigtails and the supply package.

The movable gate is held yieldably in operative relation to the fixed gate in the usual manner in devices of this character, and the relation between the movable and stationary gates is determined by a stop. 17 in the form of a set screw adjustable on plate 1. and positioned for engagement with plate 2, itbeing understood that plate 2 is fixedly mounted on a suitable bracket of the machine in the customary manner. The'position of adjustment of the stop 17 is retained by a nut 18 threaded on the stop 17 and adapted to be turned into tight engagement with the adjacent surface of' the movable gate or plate 1 which is pivotally supported on a post or rod 19.

With this arrangement, the yarn travels between the ceramic fingers without possibility 'of contact with any metal portions, or dislodgement betweenthe ceramic fingers, and the structure can be produced by suitably molding individual ceramic fingers which are cemented to the metal finger supports and areheld permanently and rigidly on the plate. This affords a practical and efiicient apparatus in which the ceramic fingers are permanently maintained in their proper positions for guiding the yarn and exerting the required pressure thereon, without the possibility of the yarn being dislodged or the yarnengaging fingers being bent or fractured.

The structure is economical to produce and results in great efficiency in operation, enabling faster feeding of yarn with more accurate tension control and less danger of injury to the yarn or accidental detachment from the ceramic fingers, while the ceramic fingers are markedly resistant, to wear from the yarn passing thereover and have an indefinite life.

While the invention has been described in relation to the particular construction shown, it is not confined to this exact embodiment, and this application is intended to cover any modifications or departures that may come within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claims. 5

I claim:

1. A strand tension device including a gate and a series of ceramic strand-engaging fingers, each finger having a strand-engaging recess defined by a convex surface terminating at its 'ends'in convex shoulders and a downwardly inclined outer surface at its outer end terminating in bifurcated portions, each ceramic finger having a channel on its under side, said channel extending along the underside of the finger and thence upwardly at a right angle and a metal finger support for each finger carried by the gate and including a horizontal portion extending endwise through said channel, a right-angle portion extending upwardly of the ceramic finger, and a downwardly inclined portion extending thence through the downwardly inclined forward portion of the finger between said bifurcated portions and outwardly beyond the ceramic finger, cement attaching means'between the ceramic fingersand metal finger supports, and an operating bar spaced from the outer end of the ceramic fingers and o to which said finger supports are fixedly attached, the

operating bar being connected fixedly to all the finger supports on a gate.

2. A strand tension device including a gate and a series of ceramic strand-engaging fingers, each finger having a strand-engaging recess defined by a convex surface terminating at its ends in convex shoulders and an inclined surface at its outer end terminating in bifurcated portions, each ceramic finger having a channel on its under side, said channel extending along the underside of the finger and thence upwardly at a right angle and an elongated narrow metal finger support for each finger located in said channel and cemented to the ceramic finger, the metal finger support extending through the inclined forward portion of the finger between said bifurcated portions and thence outwardly beyond the ceramic finger, and an operating bar to which each of said finger supports is integrally attached, the operating bar being integrally connected to all the finger supports on a gate.

3. A strand tension device including a gate and a series of ceramic strand-engaging fingers, each finger having a strand-engaging recess defined by a convex surface terminating at its ends in convex shoulders and a downwardly inclined surface at its outer end terminating in bifurcated portions, each ceramic finger having a channel on its under side extending upwardly'ata right angle and thence outwardly through said inclined outer surface between said bifurcated portions, said channel extending along the underside of the finger and a metal finger support for each finger carried by the gate and located inisaid channel, said finger support being rigidly and interlockingly secured to the ceramic finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,063,992 McKean June 10, 1913 1,296,479 Cass Mar; 4, 1919 2,307,664 Brookshire Jan. 5, 1943. 2,480,344 Turcotte Aug. 30, 1949 2,571,678 Burns Oct. 16, 1951 2,900,144 Maier Aug. 18, 1959 my qua 

